Tag: August

I didn’t even tell Hubbie about my horrible toilet disposition until just recently, when I felt I might have to forewarn him in the event of some horrible Murphy’s Law eventuating.

You see, earlier this year we purchased tickets to a Sia concert at the end of November. I’ve been waiting for them to arrive since August ended, since that is what was anticipated by the ticket company upon purchase.

Well, come end of August, and still, NO TICKETS.

Why did I start to freak, other than the obvious of clearly wanting to get tickets to a show I purchased?

Well, Hubbie is a HUGE Sia fan. After reading in an interview a while back that said she would never tour, he then proclaimed that if she were to EVER actually do it and come here, he would pay big bucks for the occasion.

Which leads me to my second diarrhoea composition. We did end up spending BIG BUCKS when she announced her tour, so much so that it put a terrific dent in our credit card, something we are still paying for! (in EVERY sense of the word).

And lastly, when I bought these tickets online, I purposefully DIDN’T purchase ticket insurance, OR organise the extra fee for them to be delivered via registered mail.

Why?! I had just spent a small fortune as it was. I know it is bonkers, but I didn’t want to spend more, even if it were for peace of mind, when I had already put more money than we could handle onto these tickets.

So, instead, I started to sweat. Through my arse.

But alas, today! Today we finally received them, safely and in one piece.

I have tucked them away for safe-keeping, and I will remember this scenario as a word of warning for myself in the future…

Purchase the God-damn ticket insurance when you need to take out a mortgage for your concert tickets. That is all.

I wrote a postvery early this yearabout a photo I took while on holiday with Hubbie at Phillip Island, manymanymany years ago.

Not only did this photo stay with me due to it being taken at a highly creative and deeply personal awakening time for me, but its strong and subtle message of taking it easy while being on an island, sang an especially sweet song. It spoke of not just relaxing into the moment, but allowing all worries and stresses to melt away as you succumbed to the slow-down pace of a more mindful part of the world.

Well today after about 5 years, we were back at Phillip Island.

Then it had been a still and sunny, though cloudy January day.

Today it had been a grey, incessantly rainy, and hair-flailing windy August day.

Then there had been an abundance of tourists everywhere lapping up the scenery.

Today there had been few overseas people about, the streets mostly empty and quiet.

Then the shops and cafes had been bursting with livelihood and excitement amongst the best time of the year.

Today there were more shops blackened and closed, than were open.

Then I had taken my sweet time to take the best shot possible of my favourite pic, angling the camera just the right way to get the best light, while using the poster’s message to take it slow and take it in, in my task.

Today I had forgotten about the poster on the passing building until we were nearly past it, and I made Hubbie slow down in the middle of the round-a-bout while I made a mad scramble for my phone and took a hasty shot of it again.

I didn’t even get ALL the words in.

And yet I didn’t care. The people, conditions and comparison didn’t matter to me: all that was important was that the poster, the message was still there. And as long as that poster was in that same spot, that meant it was always going to be island time.

And it forever will be, rain, hail or shine.

(The background tree photo on my SmikG blog is of the Phillip Island iconic trees on the main strip, an ode to the time when an especially important story and group of characters came to life in my head…

When you write a gratitude blog, you are looking at the happier things in life.

Brighter moments.

Uplifting times.

A flower blooming bright amidst grey concrete.

The rainbow that follows a dark storm.

The perfect coffee to perk you up on a cold Winter’s morning (of course,coffee).

But when it comes to Motherhood and kids, life is soooo off-kilter. There is a lot to be grateful for, but there is also a lot to bang your head against the wall in frustration too.

Take today for instance. We celebrated baby girl’s 4th birthday.

Do I mention how she hid under the table and didn’t come out as visitors came forward to wish her a happy day? No.

Do I mention how she only wanted to stay outside, away from everyone inside, and only came in when she fell and grazed her knee and I forced her to? No.

Do I mention how she screamed with fury when everyone started singing happy birthday to her? No.

No No No.

Because I’m also a glass half-full gal, which makes writing a blog like this, a bit easier, amidst challenging times. Diplomatically speaking.

So, I am grateful that I got a little face ‘decorating’ done today. Of course baby girl refused her face and got her hands painted instead (of course, it’s her birthday after all), but as soon as I organised the face painter to come for the kids, I immediately thought ‘I’m getting something too.’

I thought that, because I am young at heart, and baby girl brings that out in me, even more. And not only do I enjoy her birthday and the fun that these events bring to her, but it is double the fun, because actually…

Baby girl and I sharea birthday. What do you know. Double the trouble.

So any excuse for a big party for her, is an excuse for a big party for me. And any excuse to get face painting for her…

Is an excuse to get face painting for ME.

Bright flowers and blooming butterflies. We focus on the positive things here.

We are driving home from Spotlight. In the car, and it has just started to rain.

“Mama! Wipe wipe wipe!”

Baby girl wants me to put the wipers on. I flick the wand, and the wipers move across the window.

“Good job Mama.”

(!)

…

We are driving to another shop.

“Mama, one more toy, and finish.”

She says this ALL the time. Every time she says “one more toy, and finish,” it actually NEVER EVER EVER finishes. It’s the never-ending finishing toy story, which never actually finishes, unlike the movie, which DID.

I give her a look, trying not to smile. “Baby girl, don’t be cheeky.”

She cocks her head to the side, imitating my amused smile, and laughs. “Mama,” with the same tone I used on her.

(How do I win with this super-charming and cheeky girl?)

…

I am cleaning up after having made a cap and babycino for baby girl and I this afternoon. She takes the empty milk canister I have on the side, placing it in the sink.

“Be careful! The milk can drip.” I try to convince her, with my own hands full, to get her to leave the canister alone. She doesn’t.

She places the lid on top, in an act of ‘packing up,’ and then starts to walk away.

“Thank me Mama.”

She wants me to thank her.

“Thanks baby girl… not that I asked you in the first place,” I mutter.

(Sigh).

…

She has just finished brushing her teeth. We make a HUGE deal out of this, every single time.

“Great job honey! You did so well! You are a superstar!”

“No, a rock star.”

Geez! Where did that one come from?! ;-D

(LOL LOL LOL)

…

Sitting on her Dad’s lap, drinking her nightly milk. She is slipping off his lap, and repositions herself on him, resulting in extreme discomfort for him. He winces, but he is well-used to this wiggle worm by now.

“Ahh,” she says, taking the milk cup from me, now that she is more comfortable.
“Much much better.”

🙂

I write these things, not only because they make me happy, and grateful for these moments that display her growing humour, personality and maturity, but also as a snapshot into our life, into her life and world, and in particular the moments captured on August the 7th 2017.

It’s the reason why I write and document life so much. I want to remember, and for my children to one day read back, and go “wow… that happened? Wow.”

Life is precious, and life with a child is a wild adventure and bag of tricks that is almost necessary to note down… because they are memories to treasure forever.

Our old heater, both here and at our old place, was some 80s-90s contraption, where you had to pull the lever across to the desired temperature of 20+ ‘something,’ but even that ‘set temperature’ was questionable at times.

Tonight, it got hot. Like really hot. This is right on time, since my Dad told me the weekend ahead is set to expect some major Winter-y blasts.

And just for the record, when I was freezing my ass off in the house yesterday as the tradies were in the midst of installing new said-heater? Yeah, well, coldest August day for DECADES.

Still, the icy blasts that will set upon us are timely, since we now have heating, bitches. Take that Winter, mwa ha ha.

I love August, not only because July is usually so depressing, full-on and incredibly erratic in every negative way (and I am a glass-half full gal talking here), but also because it is mine, and baby girl’s birthday month.

I think that all the shit gets out of the way the month before our birthday, so that we can have a super cool time come the 8th month of the year.

But there is soooo much more to love about the last month of Winter, or should I call it Winter/Little Winter, as confirmed in My Climate Guide… we are already getting snippets of Spring as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, and still the warmth continued today, bringing the people out to café in FULL FORCE.

And yes, I have had my fair share of depressing, fairly FULL ON and insane times in July, so I am ALL FOR putting them behind me to part-ay. Baby girl is a chip off the old block, as we were both jumping up and down this morning yelling “yay, birthday month!”

Because today after I got back to my car after our grocery shop, it was toasty and warm from sitting out in the sun for a couple of hours…

and I actually had to open the window.

You know how in Winter, you live for those moments when the car is comfortably warm and yet outside, it is still fresh and chilly? Well today it was 13 degrees, and yet somehow for the last day of July, that translated to a mild, manageable, Wintery and almost-Spring like, heat.

Yep I said it, Spring.

I know you’ll say I’m crazy, we are not even past August yet… but I swear, it is IN THE AIR. Look what I snapped the other day: